Turkey's shrinking media freedoms

With 100 journalists in prison, many feel the governing AK Party has broken its promises to defend liberties.

23 Jan 2012 20:17 GMT

Hrant Dink, a Turkish editor and journalist who campaigned for many years for the Turkish government to recognise the genocide of Armenians, was murdered in 2007 in what many believe was a police-related incident.

His is just one case concerning press freedoms which have lead many in the country to believe the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, has broken its promises to protect liberties.

According to recent accounts, nearly 100 journalists in Turkey are in prison while 1,000 of the country's 16,000 cases pending at the European Court of Human Rights are related to media freedom.

In the first of a three-part series on reforms within the country, Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Istanbul, takes a closer look at the state of press freedom.